


Riddle

by SleepsWithCoyotes



Category: American McGee's Alice
Genre: Bestiality, Extremely Dubious Consent, F/M, Humiliation, Rape/Non-con Elements, archive fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-05 09:43:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14041476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepsWithCoyotes/pseuds/SleepsWithCoyotes
Summary: New Cat, new tricks.





	Riddle

**Author's Note:**

> I had three people basically ask for the same challenge, so I wrote three different fics for it. This is the decidedly not-nice one. As to Alice's age, she's about eighteen in this; I took the eleven years she spent in various institutions and added it to the "seven and a half exactly" she was in Looking Glass.
> 
> Challenge: Large-predator "virgin sacrifice" bestiality--the sort where the victim is offered up by someone else, quite possibly bound, and then the sacrifice is a little bit different than everyone (except, most likely, the beast) expects.

Rabbit squealed when the Cheshire Cat knocked him to the floor with a spring-coil leap, all claws and teeth and rage-maddened eyes. Kicking convulsively as the heavier beast bore him down, Rabbit froze when he felt the prick of fangs at his throat, white eyes rolling as tremors shook him. For a time-- _Oh, he was late, too late_ \--all that could be heard was the White Rabbit's terrified, panting breaths and Cat's low growl, fur-choked, blood-soaked.

***

To the castle of the Queen of Hearts they led her in chains, card guards marching on either side of her in smug, square-jawed ranks. Two clubs held her arms, her hands shackled tightly before her, and though they'd had plenty to say before this--to each other; no one spoke to her--they'd gone quiet from the moment they entered the keep.

It was nothing like the stiff and stately edifice she remembered from before, with its ordered and immaculate gardens, its bright pennants snapping in the breeze, and everywhere the clatter and clamor of the court. They'd seemed silly to her then, frustrating and often bewildering, but they'd made her smile all the same with their pompous nonsense.

The card guards were grim now, their hateful sneers as dangerous and ugly as the weapons clutched in their fists. She'd seen pikes and halberds on display with suits of armor back home in England, but those ancient armaments seemed like children's toys by comparison. What the card suits carried was oversized, twisted and sometimes blackened, much like the sad castle they tramped through like ghosts.

Except for the guards, the rest of the court appeared to be gone. There was no sign of any of her other friends, and though she hadn't expected to see the White Rabbit--once the Queen's staunch but panicked supporter--surely somebody....

She bowed her head, gaze dropping to the heavy manacles that pulled her wrists together, eyes painfully dry. No one else was coming. She wouldn't ask why.

She'd been caught by the guards almost as soon as she dropped into Wonderland, another rabbit hole closing behind her far overhead. _"Save us, Alice,"_ the Rabbit had said, calling to her through dreams and the relics of the past, and so she'd come. Something told her she'd always answer the call of Wonderland whatever her circumstances.

Rabbit had barely had time to greet her before the guards poured in, unrolling themselves from tight corners and sliding out from under doors, unfurling with a snap not half so crisp as it used to be but closing ranks with greater precision than before. Rabbit had bolted on the instant, his waistcoat-clad form shrinking with each bound of powerful hind legs, until he scampered through a door so tiny even the most tightly-curled card couldn't have stuffed himself through. He'd only given her one last, backwards look before he vanished, and it was that look that she carried with her now, his shock and terror and sick regret paradoxically comforting. At least she knew his dismay was genuine, that he hadn't summoned her here simply to betray her. All the same, he'd looked glumly unsurprised.

That sort of hopelessness was everywhere, in the faces of the doomed miners she'd seen from the prison cart and in the guards' glittering eyes, bright cruelty masking uneasy glances. She barely recognized Wonderland as it was now: dark and gloomy, riddled with holes where unnatural things poked through from some place unimaginable. It had taken several weeks for the guards to drag her cage through every part of Wonderland--her joyous return had become the Queen's triumphal procession--and she saw the same things everywhere she went. Rot, despair, and those horrible, festering tentacles, red and raw-looking, like something skinned.

When the guards pushed her through the wide double-arch to the throne room, Alice nearly stumbled to her knees from surprise alone. If the soldiers hadn't been there to catch her, she might have tripped regardless, but their rough, gloved hands pulled her back to her feet, marching her over to stand before their mistress.

Perched on a massive throne atop a dais that had once held two smaller seats, the Red Queen sat in perfect comfort, her bizarre costume reflecting the changes to her realm. Her elaborate headdress had been modeled on curled horns rather than the sweet bow of a heart, and her long skirts were divided many times over, swaying gently like octopus arms. Her painted face resembled a puppet's mask, and the slender fingers of her long, red gloves must stretch over a harpy's nails to make them look so clawlike.

The Red Queen wasn't the surprise. It was the black and grey tabby sitting on the queen's left hand that sent Alice's stomach plunging for the floor. That the Cheshire Cat of all creatures would have gone over to the Queen's side...it was unthinkable, impossible. Cat was as fond of chaos as he was of riddles; being another's servant didn't suit him at all. And she'd heard such rumors of him on the way, that he lived free and evaded every attempt at cornering him, that he was the one being who still had the power to trouble the Queen, not so much over any power he had but because no one knew what he would do next, who he sided with or where he'd turn up.

Something curled sour and sick in Alice's stomach as she watched one of the Queen's twig-fingered hands reach out to stroke the top of Cat's head like Alice would pet her own lost Dinah, like a common housecat. The Queen looked smug and complacent now, and Alice had the sinking feeling it had everything to do with knowing Cat's loyalties at last.

Was this why Cat hadn't been there to meet her with Rabbit? He could have been there if he'd wanted to be. Cats could go anywhere-- _real_ cats could, at least--and the door hadn't been made that could stop them.

"So, little nuisance," the Red Queen said, her voice a throaty purr she might have learned from the feline at her side, though her lips didn't seem to move at all. "You've come here at last--uninvited, I might add."

Lifting her chin stubbornly, Alice stared the Queen dead in the eye. "I didn't need an invitation before, and I don't believe I need one now."

"Ill-mannered wretch," the Queen muttered, the words angry, though her voice was thick with some unknown satisfaction. "Is that how you were brought up? Your parents must be rolling in their _graves_ to have a daughter like you."

Alice held her silence grimly, stung but not willing to show that she'd been hurt. Wasn't it enough that it was her fault they were dead?

"Your coming here before was an accident and was treated as such," the Red Queen continued, "but I rule Wonderland alone now, and you are not welcome." Falling silent, the Queen tilted her head to one side, regarding Alice's silence expectantly before she spoke again. "What? No assurances that you'd gladly leave? Not asking how to return home? Perhaps you were invited after all."

In a way she supposed she had been--the White Rabbit had called her, after all, which was a kind of invitation--but that was all the more reason to keep silent. If he'd gotten away, and if he hadn't been _seen,_ then she wouldn't make more trouble for him.

The Queen's chuckle was unpleasant to say the least, dark and not kind at all. "As I thought. I could send you back, but you might listen to other foolish voices and come sneaking back in again. I think I have a better idea."

The hand that had been stroking Cat's ears slid down to grip the scruff of his neck, but the Cheshire Cat merely redoubled his scratchy purr. Throat tightening, Alice watched numbly as Cat glanced up at his new mistress, tail twitching idly beside his oversized paws.

"Well, my pet?" the Queen asked. "Do you know any tricks to amuse us?"

"Not so many as a dog might, Your Majesty," Cat said smoothly, his rich voice unchanged despite his much-altered appearance, "but enough to entertain."

"I thought you might," the Queen gloated softly, releasing him and sitting back on her throne to watch.

Like the rest of Wonderland, Cat hadn't escaped the spreading air of ruin, but the changes in him were dreadful. He was emaciated now, where he'd been sleek before, ribs showing starkly while his once-proud tail had become a string of bones. His ears were more ragged than ever, though he sported a jaunty gold hoop in one, and his secretive grin had gone bloodstained and vile.

He still moved with his old power as he rose and came slinking down off the dais, huge despite his half-starved appearance and dangerous. Held fast in the grip of the guards, Alice couldn't have backed away even if her pride would let her, but the urge to retreat beat frantically behind her ribs. Even the card soldiers eyed the cat warily as he approached, their hands tightening on her arms until Cat paused just a few feet away, sitting bolt-upright and coiling his diminished tail around his paws.

Somehow she found her voice, determined not to let him--or anyone else--intimidate her.

"You've gone quite mangy, Cat."

"And you've picked up a bit of an attitude," Cat drawled, tailtip flicking as he considered her. "You shouldn't have come back."

Alice found herself staring, struck by the sincerity in his voice. There was something terrible in his eyes, and something sad too, but she could no more decipher what it meant than she could fathom his betrayal.

"I never expected to find you here," she said, fighting to keep her voice neutral rather than accusing.

Cat sniffed, lip curling up in feline derision. "Clichés become cliché because they hold a kernel of truth. Perhaps you've heard this one: Cats always land on their feet."

"I've learned," Alice said coldly, "not to believe everything I hear."

"Believe it," Cat said, smile going grim.

She was...not precisely afraid, no, but _alarmed_ when Cat tossed a speaking glance at the card guards that had them shoving her to her knees on the cold marble floor. Skirt and petticoats still billowing around her, she struggled angrily against their hands, offended more than shamed. She made herself still when she noticed Cat watching her the way Dinah would watch a mouse, a considering glint in his eyes.

"Let me _go_ ," she snapped, jerking once more against the guards' hold. "I've done nothing--"

"You've trespassed in the Red Queen's kingdom," Cat said flatly, cutting her off. " _She_ rules Wonderland; the rest of us dance to her will."

Alice glared. If he meant to convince her that he didn't have a choice in humiliating her, he could save his flattery for the ears it was so obviously intended for. She hadn't thought him the type--he'd been a law unto himself the last time she'd come--but everything else had changed. Why not Cat?

She wasn't ready for him to pin his ears back, to stretch out one huge paw and plant it heavy and menacing in the center of her chest. She could feel the tips of his claws as he flexed them, snagging their hooks in her dress, and she stiffened, indignant at the blatant threat, the predatory gleam of his smile. He might tear her to pieces, but that wouldn't prove or change anything. Chin up, eyes hot and bright, she met him stare for stare until he curled his paw and then jerked it down, shredding her dress and white pinafore to the waist as if they were made of paper, not cloth.

Shocked and horrified, she jerked away from him, bringing up her bound hands and trying to hold together the rags of her clothing as best she could. "What--what are you _doing?"_ she cried, blushing and furious and above all confused.

"Showing you the value of friendship," Cat said, watching with detached interest as she tried again to shake off her captors. He seemed amused by the sight, but utterly uncaring as to what had brought it about. "Easy, now. There's an ugly name for those who do things the hard way."

"Keep _away_ from me, you--"

"Brute?" Cat asked, ironic. "Animal? Beast? But of course."

His eyes flicked up to the guards again, and Alice tensed, expecting the worst.

"Tie her down," Cat ordered, grin twisted in self-mockery. "Though I'm blessed in many ways, that blessing doesn't extend to hands."

The manacles that held her wrists together had been fastened by two short lengths of chain, and she fought wildly as the padlock that connected them was opened. As flimsy as they seemed, the card guards were stronger; she found herself pushed to the ground, shackles fastened again through a heavy ring bolted into the floor. The marble here was stained, marred by gouges and fresh scrape-marks as if something heavy had been recently dragged away, and a wild glance around found a block of black stone shoved off to one side, just the right height to be embraced by a bound and kneeling prisoner before he lost his head.

 _Blood_ , she thought faintly as she tugged against the cuffs on her wrist, forgetting shame and her disheveled appearance as she strove for escape. That was blood underneath her, brown and black and rusty red, sunk into the cracks in the floor. The Red Queen had murdered people here before, and now it was her turn.

She almost didn't notice Cat's approach, though she noticed it when his claws flashed, ripping at her dress the way an ordinary cat might shred the drapes. She raged at him, kicking out when he came too near, but he was faster and just as determined. Soon enough she was naked but for her boots, curled up tightly on her side, skin stinging from a dozen shallow scratches. Head pressed to her knees, arms shielding her burning face, she clutched at the ring in the floor, wishing she'd learned Cat's knack of disappearing. No matter how tightly she curled, she still felt exposed and vulnerable, helpless under the eyes of the guards and the Queen.

Cat's padded footsteps were nearly silent as he came closer, whiskers tickling as he sniffed delicately at her ear. Already shivering, she jumped in startlement as his sandpaper tongue swiped at her neck, once and then again. He thrust his head into the tight ball she'd made of herself as she thrashed, and her breath caught on a loud gasp as his tongue rasped her nipple, the sheer intensity of the sensation shocking. Freezing without meaning to, she stared up at him wide-eyed as he planted a huge paw on her waist, purred and did it again.

" _Stop_ ," she managed in a choked voice, jerking as a strangely _unfinished_ feeling spread through her.

Cat lifted his head and met her eyes, his expression heavy and unreadable. All she could do was stare back at him, unwilling to understand what was happening, tugging unthinkingly against the manacles. Still, there was something about his steady regard, the lack of even friendly malice in his eyes, a hint of--

Shaking himself abruptly, Cat lifted his paw from her side, one ear twitching as he sat back on his haunches. "Do as you're told," he said bluntly, "or this could get unpleasant."

"You're tardy, sir," she snapped. "It's already unpleasant."

"More unpleasant, then. I have no preference myself, you understand. I intend to enjoy myself either way."

Cat's eyes were disarmingly intense, as if trying to communicate by will alone. She couldn't help but wonder--could he have some sort of plan? Was her capture behind his sudden defection to the Queen? She wanted to believe it was true, but she'd always been a sensible child. The Queen wouldn't let him get so close if she hadn't already made sure of him. Unless she was testing them both.

"I won't forget this," she forced from a throat that still wanted to close.

Cat gave her a tiny smile that wasn't like his impossible grin at all as he inclined his head, eyes half-lidded. "I should be most insulted if you did," he replied, and she wondered if she'd imagined the odd touch of fondness that crept into his tone. "Up, girl. Knees and elbows. The Queen wishes you to know your place."

By fits and starts, she did as she was ordered, blushing hotly and hating herself, hating him, hating the Red Queen most of all. Rising to his feet, Cat stalked her in a slow, measured circle, whip-tail lashing. She'd somehow managed to forget how big he was, but she was being reminded now; though he was far too thin these days, he was easily the size of a leopard, and his leanness only emphasized the corded strength of muscle stretched tight over bone, the length of fang and claw.

She tensed as he paused behind her, flinched as she felt his whiskers tickle her thighs, the heat of his breath. Though she bit her lip and squeezed her eyes tightly closed, she squeaked helplessly as she felt his tongue stroke her _there_ , hips jerking in fear and shock as he licked her again. That rough-textured touch was as intense as it had been against her breast--no, worse--and she was torn between curling away from it and a horrible, unexpected heat that flared in the pit of her stomach.

Cat didn't stop there, and though his sandpaper caress hovered just at the edge of unbearable, the heat that pooled in her belly had started to build. Maybe it was supposed to do that; she hardly had anything to compare it to, and if she'd ever thought before of anyone putting their mouth to such a place, it would have seemed shameful and dirty. But now--

Though she couldn't look at them, she could hear the murmurs of the guards, knew they were watching her. The Queen would be watching too, and Alice buried her face in her forearms as soft, strange sounds were wrung from her, whimpers and moans. She could _feel_ Cat purring as he lapped and lapped, scouring tongue pressing inside her in short little stabs and curls that made her buck and gasp. An unfamiliar ache was gathering inside, different from the near-pain of Cat's insistent touch, and she found her breath hitching in her throat, her body taut and straining after something she didn't understand.

 _Wait_ , she wanted to say, but she couldn't lift her face from the bend of her arm as Cat nuzzled closer, teasing her with hard, fast little strokes and then _dragging_ his tongue over a place that made her see sparks. All her body's tension collected suddenly into a fist that clenched and made her cry out, Cat's tongue never still as she shuddered and shook until she was ready to scream, brought to a fever-pitch again too quickly to comprehend.

She kept her head bowed as the low, scornful laughter of the guards reached her ears, but she could feel their eyes like grimy hands on her skin. The Red Queen's notice was a subtler thing, but darker, more ominous. She could see the trailing edges of the Queen's skirts in the corner of her eye and was briefly mesmerized by the way they swayed and coiled, knotting together like frantic fingers. Closing her eyes again, she tried to concentrate only on Cat, a dissatisfied sound escaping when his tongue left her moments later. She wasn't sure what to _do_ with the strange feeling he'd awakened in her, and she wasn't about to ask.

And then she didn't have to, because he was on her, heavy body sliding over hers, whiskers tickling her ear. His heat, the bony scrape of his ribs and the softness of his pelt filled the whole of her attention until he brushed his muzzle against her cheek and murmured, "This will likely hurt a great deal."

She was tensing even before she felt the nudge just _there_ , something hot and thick pressing against her and sliding through a slickness that made her blush fiercely to think of it. Cat shifted over her, the pressure returning before she could make up her mind to jerk away or fight, and with a hard, fast thrust, he was inside.

She cried out again, all her thoughts condensing for a brief moment to an awareness of fur and claws, that she was rutting with a beast. He felt huge inside her, and surely he shouldn't feel that big--this couldn't be natural, and wasn't--and she caught a sobbing breath that turned into a silent, openmouthed scream as he pulled out again. Shock dazed her--what was _happening?_ \--and she felt the rumble of a faint growl against her spine just before Cat thrust back in.

Clenching helplessly around him and oddly sore, she fisted her hands white-knuckled on the iron ring in the floor, waiting with fear churning in her belly as he shoved in to the hilt and--

Alice shrieked as he pulled back again, feeling as if tiny hooks were raking her from inside. Cat's next thrust jarred loose a sob, and she thought she heard him mutter, "Relax." Only she couldn't, and it hurt terribly, just like he'd warned her, and she was sorry now that she'd ever listened to Rabbit. Was this what the Red Queen had meant when she said she'd make sure Alice never answered another call from a friend? If she had to face this again, she doubted she'd have the courage.

Cat was rocking hard into her, not trying to go slow or make it any easier; she suspected it _couldn't_ be made easier, that trying to spare her would only prolong the agony. At the same time, even while she was crying, whimpering, sometimes screaming, it was only her body making those sounds. It hurt, but not as badly as the fire. Not as badly as losing her family. Not as badly as knowing it was _him_ doing this when she didn't know even now whether he was doing it for her sake or for the amusement of the Queen.

One of his paws hooked around her middle, claws prickling delicately at her skin though they were mindfully sheathed. She found herself moving to its pressure, altering the slope of her body, and something about the new angle helped. The inner tension of before hadn't entirely dissipated, and though every thrust left her gasping, some treacherous part of her was beginning to respond. She hated that she could feel anything but disgust--Cat was still a _cat_ \--but she wanted to trust him, wanted it to be another riddle when he growled low and soft in her ear, powerful body pounding into her without rhythm.

She cried out with him when he stiffened and buried himself deep, their voices a strange counterpoint that echoed off the walls. "Even screeches like a cat," one of the guards muttered derisively, laughter cutting off abruptly as Cat growled again, louder.

Tears traced damp trails down Alice's cheek, but they had nothing to do with the hard ball of rage, hopelessness and pleading that had lodged in her chest.

"Cat," she breathed, wanting to believe, but it had to be _now._

His breath touched her cheek again as he sighed, voice a gentle murmur as he said, "And this shouldn't hurt at all."

She heard the Red Queen shriek in sudden fury as the world went grey and soft-edged around them, full of shadows striped with great swaths of nothingness, and then they were gone.

***

When the world reformed around them, it pieced itself together a little at a time: a hard-packed dirt wall knotted with old roots, a set of shelves with dusty books, the faded portrait of a rather stodgy old rabbit with a monocle and pipe. It was unquestionably a rabbit-hole, and that somehow struck her as strange, not because of the furnishings, but because the only rabbit she knew well had lived in a house aboveground. The place looked unused, the air musty and clotted with cobwebs, and the little piece of her that tried desperately to stay practical in the very face of insanity whispered that it likely made a perfect place to hide.

And Rabbit was there, leaping out of a tired-looking wingback chair as they faded in, his pale eyes staring with dismay. "Cat!" he cried, flinching along with Alice as the cat pulled out of her completely and backed away. Hands free at last, Alice sat up with a faint whimper and dragged the rug around herself, eyes fixed firmly on the floor. "It took that long?" Rabbit asked, ears drooping limply as he stared back and forth between them.

"It's not an easy thing," Cat snapped testily, "vanishing someone other than yourself. It took exactly as long as it needed to take."

"Oh dear," Rabbit groaned, rubbing his black-gloved hands together. "My poor girl. You must be...well. I think we can at least manage a bath, and a clean bed. My great-aunt entertained often, so there's--er, guest rooms. Clothes, too, I should think. I'll--just be checking then."

She wasn't the least bit surprised when he escaped again, leaving her with Cat.

Lifting her head slowly, she fixed him with a helpless look he met with grim stubbornness, regret stark in his eyes.

"Let Rabbit clean you up and get some rest," he said gruffly, ears flat to his skull. "When you're ready, I'll guide you to Caterpillar. He can tell you everything you need to know."

Her heart tripped madly as he started to fade around the edges, and she called out without thinking. " _Cat._ "

Though he'd already gone misty, he paused, not smiling at all. "Yes?"

"Why?"

As his tail began to lash, she could see him choosing to misunderstand.

"I had to be touching you for it to work," he said bluntly, eyeing her as if waiting for her to fly at him. "Better still if we were connected. Magic's not easy to fool, but cats aren't easy to decipher. I fancy I'm more impossible than most." One ghostly ear twitched as he watched her digest that, earring glinting like a washed-out firefly as he shook his head. "Rest, Alice. I'll see to it nothing disturbs you tonight."

He disappeared completely before she could call him back and demand to know why he'd gone into the enemy's lair for her, why he'd played such a dangerous game with the Queen. She felt numb, sitting there alone in a long-abandoned parlor, but even when Rabbit came back to gingerly hustle her into a bath, she didn't flinch away. He was only a rabbit, after all.

She didn't expect to sleep that night, but she slipped into unconsciousness the moment her head hit the pillows, too exhausted even to dream. It seemed like only moments before she woke again, though she felt so refreshed she suspected half the day had already come and gone. Something told her she wasn't alone, but she hadn't been startled awake.

When she opened her eyes, she wasn't surprised to find Cat guarding her sleep, sitting stiffly upright at the foot of the bed. There was a knife lying between his paws-- _How funny_ , she thought with unexpected mildness; _other cats bring mice_ \--and it was long and sharp-looking, already stained as if it'd seen long years of use and wore the badge of its service proudly.

Though she was relieved to be able to meet Cat's eyes, she missed his grin. She knew now that the people from _back there_ \--the doctor, the nurse--were likely right about her. She _must_ be insane, because she didn't fear him even now.

Cat was here to help her. And he'd brought her a gift.

***

 _Rabbit squealed when the Cheshire Cat knocked him to the floor with a spring-coil leap, all claws and teeth and rage-maddened eyes. Kicking convulsively as the heavier beast bore him down, Rabbit froze when he felt the prick of fangs at his throat, white eyes rolling as tremors shook him. For a time_ \--Oh, he was late, too late-- _all that could be heard was the White Rabbit's terrified, panting breaths and Cat's low growl, fur-choked, blood-soaked._

_He'd failed Alice once already; if Cat killed him before he could rescue her from the Queen, then it would all be for nothing._

_"Cat," he whispered, voice escaping him entirely. "Cat, I--"_

_Cat's growl redoubled, but he took his teeth away from Rabbit's throat at last. "Rabbit, what have you done?" he demanded, the melodic voice he'd always been so proud of a cracked moan of dismay._

_"B-brought her here," Rabbit stammered in mingled guilt and defiance. "Brought Alice here."_

_"You fool. Why didn't you_ tell _me?" Cat demanded, and Rabbit realized with awful suddenness that he'd miscalculated, that if Cat killed him now, it wouldn't be to curry favor with the Queen but because he'd done the unconscionable and put Alice into her hands._

_"I wasn't sure you could be trusted," he said, lying boneless and miserable under Cat's claws._

_Cat's face was terrible, his grim smile a shadow of itself as Rabbit's death surfaced briefly in gold eyes and faded with a tired sigh. "Well, then," Cat said, voice harsher than Rabbit had ever heard it. "I suppose I'll have to find someone else to prove it to._

_"I only wonder," he added darkly, "which of them will accept what I have to offer."_


End file.
